Return of the King (1980) Part 1
This is a... weird movie. It's a sequel to a movie that didn't share ANY of its cast and crew, and there's a massive timegap between the end of one and the beginning of another that is just confusing. Also, a chunk of the cast of the Bakshi version has been jettisoned, and most of the characters from the book. Seriously, WHERE ARE LEGOLAS AND GIMLI? It tries to appeal to kids with songs and Shire dreams, but also features Shakespearean-style monologues and characters implicitly committing suicide. Sigh. Rankin-Bass, just because The Hobbit was a movie for kids doesn't mean this one is. Oh, and did I mention that it has Roddy McDowell as Samwise Gamgee? GANDALF (VO) Hear you now...a story of good against evil. ... which is most stories, really. Well, except for Twishite and slice-of-life stories. An epoch that has its beginning at an ending... and ends at a beginning. Not to be pedantic, but every epoch begins at an ending (of the previous epoch) and ends at a beginning (of the next one). It takes a lot of anti-talent to make LOTR sound incredibly... bland. 00:00:33,435 --> 00:00:36,563 Listen, as we speak of the fall of a lord of darkness... 6 00:00:36,962 --> 00:00:39,207 ...and the return of a king of light. 7 00:00:40,008 --> 00:00:42,856 Concern yourselves with armies and wizards... 8 00:00:43,297 --> 00:00:45,061 ...phantoms and emperors... 9 00:00:45,141 --> 00:00:49,352 ...cloud-capped towers and bloodied fields of horrendous carnage. 10 00:00:50,394 --> 00:00:51,918 Consider no less... 11 00:00:51,998 --> 00:00:53,844 ...than the cataclysmic transformation... 12 00:00:53,922 --> 00:00:56,609 ...of that ancient world of wonder and magic... 13 00:00:56,889 --> 00:00:59,494 ...to the world we know now, of Man. 14 00:01:00,781 --> 00:01:03,505 What mighty lord, you may ask, is hero enough... 15 00:01:03,707 --> 00:01:06,672 ...to evoke such cosmic metamorphosis? 16 00:01:09,639 --> 00:01:12,485 Why, no lord at all, but the littlest of fellows... 17 00:01:13,290 --> 00:01:14,811 ...Frodo the Hobbit... 18 00:01:14,892 --> 00:01:17,096 ...and his faithful squire, Samwise. 19 00:01:18,220 --> 00:01:21,587 Who, beginning at the ending, now approach Rivendell... 20 00:01:21,870 --> 00:01:23,874 ...the Elvish home of Elrond... 21 00:01:24,154 --> 00:01:27,159 ...there to help celebrate the 129th birthday... 22 00:01:27,723 --> 00:01:29,609 ...of Frodo's aged kin... 23 00:01:30,168 --> 00:01:33,616 ...Bilbo Baggins, renowned tormentor of dragons. 24 00:01:34,299 --> 00:01:39,269 Bless my soul! You're a match for Smaug himself. 25 00:01:47,651 --> 00:01:49,816 All of us, Frodo and Samwise... 26 00:01:50,375 --> 00:01:53,103 ...their Hobbit companions, Merry and Pippin... 27 00:01:53,262 --> 00:01:56,791 ...EIrond the Elf-Lord, and l, Gandalf... 28 00:01:57,434 --> 00:01:59,638 ...wished Bilbo only the best. 29 00:02:00,722 --> 00:02:03,086 But as we celebrated far into the Elvish night... 30 00:02:03,126 --> 00:02:06,695 ...we found it difficult to keep our aging guest of honor awake. 31 00:02:07,696 --> 00:02:10,143 Nay, Pippin. Not till Bilbo has cut it. 32 00:02:10,423 --> 00:02:13,510 Blast. What a time to fall asleep. 33 00:02:13,872 --> 00:02:15,355 Who's asleep? 34 00:02:15,596 --> 00:02:17,681 Just resting my eyes... 35 00:02:18,044 --> 00:02:20,128 ...and remembering. 36 00:02:21,610 --> 00:02:23,736 There And Back Again... 37 00:02:23,936 --> 00:02:26,262 ...and what happened after. 38 00:02:26,664 --> 00:02:28,026 Remembering, sir? 39 00:02:28,427 --> 00:02:29,951 So many things. 40 00:02:30,231 --> 00:02:31,876 Old Smaug... 41 00:02:32,478 --> 00:02:34,240 ...dear Thorin... 42 00:02:34,321 --> 00:02:37,047 ...that terrible Gollum chap... 43 00:02:37,888 --> 00:02:40,014 ...the Ring of Invisibility. 44 00:02:41,017 --> 00:02:42,981 What's become of my ring? 45 00:02:43,582 --> 00:02:46,509 That ring I gave you and you took away. 46 00:02:47,112 --> 00:02:48,152 Yes. 47 00:02:48,233 --> 00:02:50,199 I've lost it, Bilbo dear. 48 00:02:50,478 --> 00:02:51,803 I got rid of it, you know. 49 00:02:52,282 --> 00:02:55,732 Pity. I should have liked to see it again. 50 00:02:56,372 --> 00:02:57,375 But... 51 00:02:57,456 --> 00:02:59,902 ...now, how silly of me. 52 00:03:00,464 --> 00:03:02,627 That's what you went for, wasn't it? 53 00:03:02,709 --> 00:03:04,313 To get rid of it. 54 00:03:05,071 --> 00:03:10,045 But why destroy a thing of such wondrous magic? 55 00:03:10,526 --> 00:03:12,571 It was an evil thing, sir. 56 00:03:12,811 --> 00:03:13,853 Nay! 57 00:03:13,933 --> 00:03:15,779 Without its powers... 58 00:03:15,939 --> 00:03:19,708 ...I could never have faced the worm, Smaug. 59 00:03:20,310 --> 00:03:24,118 You unwittingly used its evil forces for good, dear Uncle. 60 00:03:24,399 --> 00:03:26,365 Your innocence protected you. 61 00:03:26,604 --> 00:03:28,729 But had you continued to wear it... 62 00:03:28,809 --> 00:03:31,498 ...instead of keeping it above your mantle as a trophy... 63 00:03:31,858 --> 00:03:35,425 ...its ever-growing malignancy would have consumed you... 64 00:03:35,825 --> 00:03:40,758 ...as it almost consumed Samwise and me and the whole of Middle-earth. 65 00:03:41,078 --> 00:03:44,528 But this is all so confusing. 66 00:03:45,367 --> 00:03:48,134 So confusing. 67 00:03:48,535 --> 00:03:52,466 -Will he never cut the cake? -Patience, Merry. 68 00:03:53,349 --> 00:03:55,312 Me for a good smoke, while we wait. 69 00:03:55,392 --> 00:03:58,082 -What say, master? -Good notion, Sam. 70 00:04:00,685 --> 00:04:02,770 Bless my soul! 71 00:04:04,535 --> 00:04:07,942 You are missing a finger! 72 00:04:09,506 --> 00:04:12,233 You not only lost my ring... 73 00:04:12,673 --> 00:04:15,841 ...you lost the finger on which it rode? 74 00:04:17,044 --> 00:04:20,051 Frodo, you must explain. 75 00:04:20,773 --> 00:04:22,337 We have brought with us someone... 76 00:04:22,417 --> 00:04:25,343 ...who has written a ballad about the adventures of Frodo: 77 00:04:25,382 --> 00:04:27,230 The Minstrel of Gondor.